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Slavery in Maryland
From its foundation as a colony in 1634 until the state abolished the institution in 1864, chattel slavery was legal in Maryland. During those 230 years, the labor of enslaved people of African descent provided the foundation for Maryland's economy. Changes in early 1800s agricultural practices diminished dependence on slavery, resulting in a drop in the state's enslaved population. Marylanders participated in the lucrative domestic slave trade, splitting enslaved families as they ere sold to plantations in the Deep South. This scenario occurred among the enslaved people held here by the Riley family. |